Vijaya Bank set to widen its reach

Bangalore-headquartered public sector lender Vijaya Bank has launched its financial inclusion plan at Sunaganahalli village in Mandya district of Karnataka.

According to the financial inclusion plan, the bank envisages providing banking service to all unbanked villages under its service area with a population of over 2,000 by March, 2012.

“Our bank is geared up to achieve the goals spelt out under the financial inclusion plan for villages with a population of over 2,000 by March, 2012. The service area villages with a population of less than 2,000 will be covered under the financial inclusion plan in the next three years,” Albert Tauro, chairman and managing director of Vijaya Bank, said.

The bank already provides Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) through ICT-based model to the Social Security Pension beneficiaries and Nrega beneficiaries in Mandya district under ‘one bank, one district’ model, he added.

The bank also distributed the ‘Vijaya Vikas Smart Cards’ to select no-frills account holders of the village.

These smart cards, which will be used through ‘business correspondents’, will enable account holders to deposit cash or withdraw cash, remittance of interest and payment of installment into the loan account among others.

Meanwhile, the bank has also entered into an agreement with the Dubai-based UAE Exchange to offer easy and instant money transfer facility to the expatriates across the world.

“The Xpress Money service is aimed to add a significant value to Vijaya Bank’s customer segments spread over its 1,172 branches across the country,” a statement from Vijaya Bank said.

UAE Exchange, which has a presence in 26 countries across five continents, will enable the bank to provide faster, easier and hassle-free money transfer to its customers, the release added.

Vijaya Bank posted a net profit of Rs 173 crore, up 21 per cent during the April-June period this fiscal on the back of falling cost of deposit with higher core earnings.

Total income rose 3.8 per cent to Rs 1,520.20 crore from Rs 1,463.42 crore during the same period last year.